Part 6, GO GO GO, Jaisalmer -> Juhdpur -> Udaipur

We we're ready.

Well, no we weren't, but we got to going anyways.

START DAY !

The countdown

Our Rig. Fancy.

We loaded in, got to reving, and immediately got stuck in a traffic jam of Rickshaws leaving the city... But as soon as we got out of town, we were all set... To get petrol.

Couple of goobs.

Gettin er' goin.

Over the shoulder.

Gas Petrol

Patiently waiting

But then we were out, racing about as quickly as we could get the 2 strokes to carry us, bobbing and weaving though trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, cars, pedestrians, goats, and the frequent cow 🐄.

Ere' we go!

On an active road

Traffic

"Road"

To put it shortly, our primer on how to drive on Indian roads was hectic at best, and downright LSD-in-a-house-of-horrors insane at worst.

We can read only half the signs, people honk for every reason, and we're practically maxing out our engines wherever we go.

More "roads"

At one point I reached out my hand to high five a couple kids as we rolled by at about 20mph... One of the kids put out a stick instead, which sucked.

😡

That and the onset of Delhi-Belly that occurred that morning, which was only amplified by the easy motion of riding in the back of a rickshaw.
And it was 106°f by midday, but who's counting
🤷

Either which way, we ended up at a palace in the hills by the end of the night, just outside of Jodhpur (Thanks to some google-fu by yours truly) and we're able to relax and put in our daily offering to the Rickshaw in the sky 🍻.

Day 1

Nice.

RUN DAY 2

After a wonderful night's rest, we headed out for Udaipur, starting out early in a desperate attempt at beating the heat, and got rolling about 8am.

There were cows even in the parking lot of the palace.

Views on the way out.

Didn't take to many photos of Jodhpur propper, so here's this one.

After we cleared the city propper, it was my turn to take the handles. Driving mostly on the highways it was much easier than I expected. Just avoid the occasional goat and weaving though trucks.

V dangerous

The area between the two cities was a little on the blasted-earth side of terrain, but after negotiating most of the incline it was smooth sailing... Until the sun set.

Uh oh.

What's that saying? Up without a paddle?

Picture this: it's 6pm, we're driving around Udaipur to get to the side of town with the hotel, and the sun is setting. Almost scenic, right?
Well, turns out we'd picked the truck bypass road and you can't farther than a blind man with some cool sunglasses on when highbeams are pointed at you.

Don't night drive in India. We learned that lesson the hard way.
The hotel was nice tho.

Day 2, note that the distance is off.

Our Hotel.

Heh.

And thus came to a close day 2. Day 3 & 4 in the next one.
Until then, cheers!

Mac

Part 5, Pimping and Partying, making the Rickshaw our own.

What good would an adventure story be without some embellishments?

As it happens, with ours its embellishments of the Rickshaws.

Glitter things, beads, toys, sticks and paint.
We added quite a few shinies.

After all that was done we got a quick once-over of how to keep the Rickshaw running while driving through the boonies and secured our key. Nice.

I don't​ think it can do donuts, but I guess we can find that out later.

Well, anyways, we had a few days to fart around Jaisalmer and pick up all the extras we needed to aquire the disposables (Fuel filters, head gaskets, spark plugs, etc...) And then it was time for the party.
I don't have too many photos of it, but I assure it was a good time.

Church enjoying the pool

One of the security guards and I hanging out on the roof of the palace.

The wiring for the lit dance floor

The party, in full swing (~200 people)

Snuck back on the roof

The aftermath

And with that we're about to start our lil trip.

Cheers!

Mac

Part 4, love at first sight. Meeting the Tuk-Tuks.

This one is going to pick up about mid-day Wednesday the 29th, as WiFi in this town is about as reliable as a rickshaw going down the country of India (read: not). I'm sitting at the one Italian restaurant in Jaisalmer mid day Saturday, eating an endearing attempt at a pizza margarita, because Trip Advisor said this place has good enough WiFi.

Anyways, I'll keep this one brief as I've a lot of catching up to do. We'd arrived in Jaisalmer on Wednesday, and after treating ourselves to a few rounds of THE SWEET NECTAR OF THE GODS known as Kinfischer, we check into our hotel and started up towards the fort, where rumors of a dark gathering of mostly white people was occuring.

Thank goodness

Jaisalmer, near the fort.

From the top of our hotel, the Jaisal Palace.

More fort/Jaisalmer

Our lunch spot on the fort.

With one helluva view.

The gathering turned out to be all white people, with the offerings to the Tuk-Tuk in the sky being more Kingfisher 🍺.

The Bristol Boys and another group from LA

After consumping our fair share, the we went and took a sneak peek at the launching point of the Rickshaws, the Jawas Niwar palace, and enjoyed a dip in their pool.

Come the next day it was time to lay eyes on the Rickshaws, and see our stress for the next two weeks.

Look at that beautiful rig

The lineup

The full spread.

Per the Adventurist page regarding the Auto-Rickshaw...

Engine: 2 stroke, single cylinder, forced air cooled
Power: 7 HP at 5000 rpm  (equiv. 1 family dog)
Transmission: 4 forward, 1 reverse
Fuel Capacity: 8 ltr + 1.4 reserve
Top Speed: 55kmph (downhill)
Engine Size: 145.45cc

System Voltage: 12V , DC

Underpowered and soon to be overworked for our task, but she's ours, and soon to be put to the test.

That's all I've got for now.

Until next time, cheers!

Mac

Part 3, the Jaisalmer Extravaganza

Holy hell

It's been is a trip.

Let me regail you with one of what I imagine will be many stories.

So, on Tuesday the 28th we started our trek from Delhi to Jaisalmer. We got a good breakfast, packed our small bags, and walked whistfuly into our destination upon the crazy train.

Loading up.

The traffic here still is amazing to me.

Presidency Residency.

Parliament.

India Gate, framed nicely by the cabbie that knew exactly the fresh hell we were getting into.

Local infrastructure, clean coal?

If it works, right?

So, before I get into the next section, I need to explain a bit. Delhi is a city of a population of 25 million plus, and has highs and lows much like any large city. Most people hear of New Delhi. We took a train out of Old Delhi, which is to say, an area that is very Indian in it's operation. (And utterly bonkers if you're a foreigner).

Befuddled.

Starting to panic.

*Mild panic*

So, it was about at this point that we fully realized the weight of taking a train out of Old Delhi. A cornucopia of sensual experiences mostly revolving around dust and undefined feeces, with a pairing of general human smells to round out the meal.

We huddled up around our bags and stuck it out for the extra 2 hours we were early. In the interim there appeared 3 figures on the horizon, and my journeyman Bostonian senses tingled. The British were coming!

The Bristol Boys

Our fist contact with other Rickshaw Runners. 2 of these gents had even done the Mongol Rally (Racing across Eastern Europe in a POS sub compact), which made this their sophomore adventurist institution. You'll most likely see more of these mad lads later in the blog.

Getting comfortable

A little more comfortable.

Neat!

Anyways, we loaded onto our sleeper car and started our 18 hour journey to an oasis in the Thar Desert. With the wind at our backs (Read: AC, blessed) we starting rolling southward by westward. Thankfully the lower bunk on the isle had a window, and Morrie was kind enough to let me set and stare out of it.

Humanity was everywhere in Delhi.

As we rolled down the tracks it was an eye opening experience to the sheer difference from what I'd seen of India this far. Everything moved so quickly past, but it showcased so many different ways if being and I was allowed to see it as observer. Fortunately for us, one of the near bunks was occupied by an gentleman that was able to lend context to some of the sights we didn't understand. Most of the hovels along the tracks were occupied by Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi illegal immigrants, or by the large population of smack addicts within Delhi. But the encampments along the way were all homes, each painted and decorated to distinguish from it's neighbor.

As we got into our 3rd hour it started to get dark, and the day had put a suggestion in our head that we may want to rest. Out came the bedding and off to sleep we went, rocked less than gently by the uneven tracks beneath.

Queen of Shiba sleep system courtesy of Julie Pierce.

Bed time.

A halting 9 hours punctuated by the chai guy selling his wears late into the night later, we rose to a much dryer landscape around us.

Scrub-a-dub-dub

Yup, that's sand. And a camel.

We'd made it into the desert. And Jaisalmer came shortly after.

A little more dust, a lot less grime.

Celebrating ?

We were in the start city, and maybe a touch more prepared than before for what's in store.

More soon.

Until then, cheers!

Mac